89, страница 6

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SIDE PIECE

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Power Cord Reel

This simple hand reel is a great way to store a long power cord. To wind up the cord, you just "pedal" the reel like a bicycle (photo above). Once the cord is wrapped up, it won't get tangled, so it's ready to go when you need it. (This reel can hold a 50' power cord.)

The reel is easy to buiid. Simply connect a pair of dowels to two plywood sides, as shown in drawing above. Besides providing a rigid support to wrap the cord around, the dowels act as handles to make it easy to roll up the cord.

The dowels fit in holes drilled near the ends of each side. It's a good idea to round off both ends of the side pieces. This keeps the power cord from getting tangled or snagged as you wrap it up.

To assemble the reel, it's just a matter of inserting the dowels in the holes in the sides. The handles are formed by extending one end of each dowel past opposite sides of the reel. (The other end of each dowel is flush with the side.)

After screwing the dowels to the side, I slipped a short length of PVC

pipe over each one. The pipe spins freely on the handles which makes it easy to wind up the cord. (I cut the pipes shorter than the handles.)

Next, to prevent the pieces of pipe from slipping off, I placed a fender washer over the end of each one and screwed it in place.

All that's needed to complete the cord reel is to glue a clothespin to one side. Clipping the end of the power cord in the clothespin frees up your hands to crank the reel.

Wallace E. Delo Buffalo, New York

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6 ShopNotes No. 89

Retractable Chuck Key

I'm always misplacing the chuck key to my drill press. So I fastened it to a retractable key chain that's attached to the column of the drill press (photo at right).

The key chain is held in place with a hose clamp. And it's connected to the chuck key by a short dowel to give you more leverage.

A hole drilled in one end of the dowel accepts the handle of the chuck key. (I used epoxy to hold it in place.) After screwing an eye hook in the opposite end, you can simply slip it onto the ring at the end of the key chain and it's ready for action when you need to use it.

Gary Vorgert Epping, North Dakota

RETRACTABLE KEY CHAIN

NOTE:

USE HOSE CLAM F TO MOUNT KEY CHAIN TO DRILL PRESS COLUMN

EYE HOOK

DOWEL

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